Butterfly & Flowers...

Recently, a co-worker passed away.  It was a shocking thing where they went in for a surgery that is considered by some as an everyday procedure.  Unfortunately, complications occurred and there was preparations for a life flight to another medical facility but the co-worker passed before that could occur.  It's been a sad week at work.  This co-worker loved purple and butterflies.  So I did this painting at the request of another co-worker that thought it might be a nice gift for the family.  I'm not sure if my artwork is worthy of something like that but here it is....

"Purple Butterfly and Flowers in Remembrance"- 11" x 14" Watercolor and Ink on Paper.

Happy Holidays!!

Wishing you and yours the Best of this Holiday Season!
These are most of the paintings that I've painted in the last year.  It's always amazing to look back on a year and see what has happened over the year.

Breast Cancer Fall Bazaar-- This Saturday!

Hello!  Here's a slightly different slant for me of late.  I've been working on some flower paintings for a Breast Cancer Fall Bazaar that coming up this next Saturday.  It takes place in the Cherry Building in Cedar Rapids, IA from 9AM to 2PM this Saturday October 25th.  If you happen to be in the area swing by and say Hi!  Here's a couple of new pieces available for the Bazaar...

Photo: "Blue Stemmed Flower"; Watercolor and Ink on 8" x 11" Paper.

Photo: "Dear Karma"; Watercolor on 13" x 11" Paper.

A Poured Watercolor: Red Tulips and Bicycle...

I had a bit of fun with this poured watercolor and you will be able to see it in person if you happen to be in Fairfax, Iowa this Saturday.  I'll have a little booth there for the Fairfax USA Days.  So I invite you to come swing by for a bit of art and some Patriotic FUN!  But I call this painting: Red Tulips and Bike.  It's a bit more abstract and I kind of like it that way...

"Red Tulips and Bicycle"; Poured Watercolor on 9" x 14" paper.

I would LOVE to hear any feedback you may have and thanks for stopping by!

A Painting Break on Whigby Island...

I've been on the road on my BIG Adventure for 11 days now and I've really been keeping busy with other things.  I have not managed to find as much time as I thought for painting.  So when I woke up one morning while visiting Whigby Island and it was cloudy and cold; I decided it was a good enough excuse to take the day off from sightseeing and stay in to do a bit of watercolor painting.  Here's  what I did during my day off from sightseeing...

"Honesty Flower Stand"; Watercolor on 9" x 12" paper.

All over Whigby Island there are stands that are not tended by people they just put the flowers or sweet corn or other vegetable/fruit out with a box to leave the money in.  It just boggles my mind because coming from a large city where something like would never fly.  It is almost like it hails from another time.

"Libbey Beach"; Watercolor on 10" x 15" Paper.

This is based on a photo I took on Libbey Beach which is on the west side of Whigby Island.  It's the first watercolor I've done of a beach scene and painting the rocky beach was a bit of a challenge to figure out.  But it's always good to have room to grow and learn.

A Commission for Mom...

My mom recently decided to remove a shelf in the kitchen-dining room area.  She asked for me to do an oil painting of flowers that was large enough to cover the place where the shelf had been.  She gave the measurements and requested a wrapped canvas.  She didn't want to worry about framing and I think she liked the idea of a more modern unframed painting to update the area.  From there, she gave me ideas on what she would like but always mentioned that she was sure that whatever I came up with she would be happy with.  Thanks mom!  No pressure what-so-ever.

First she sent me a few magazine pages of ideas... A Van Gogh of flowers which she explained, she didn't like the actual flowers.  She considered them too child-like but she did like the green wispy strokes in it.  Then, there was a photo of yellow tulips taken in her dining room.  She wanted tulips.  Then, she included a couple of other pages with flowers that she would like to have in the painting. 

Then, she included a diagram of a certain degree...

She wanted to keep to yellows, greens, and purples with a bit of pinks in there too.  She kept an emphasis on keeping it nice light and airy.  Now, I will put a disclaimer here.  I'm not really a flower type of painting gal.  Buildings and bicycles are more my type of thing that I like to paint.  Flowers are a different territory altogether.  I will say I struggled with this for awhile.  I took a bit more time than usual on the under painting.  I did several layers with an iridescent gold and two different yellows.  Then before I started to lay in the actual flowers of the painting.  I painted in the green wispy things.  Here's what I had...

Next, I did some sketches of flowers on paper and played with arranging them on the canvas.

There was a selection of different flowers that I threw in that I thought might look nice with the other flowers she requested; irises, primrose and lavender.  I layed out the drawings on the canvas to get a feel for what looked good together and what would fit and still be light and airy too.  Then I sketched the general format onto the canvas with the same green paint as the wispy things.

I talked with Mom this last Sunday morning on the phone and explained the general format that I had come up with.  She thought it sounded pretty good.  So I proceeded to paint on Sunday evening and Monday night and this is the finished painting that was produced...

AND I hope that Mom is happy enough to hang it on her wall when I bring it home to her in Cedar Rapids, Iowa in July while I'm there for RAGBRAI.

3 More Poured Watercolors...

I started these while at watercolor painting class on Wednesday night.  I had hoped to get in a bike ride on Saturday but with wind gust of 61mph I opted out.  Winds like that and bicycling do not mix.  Thus, I found myself indoors, working on poured watercolors during a Saturday afternoon instead of the planned bike ride.  But that was okay and I still had fun.  I really do enjoy doing poured watercolors.  I used the same colors on all three of these pours-- yellow orche, meduim cadium red, and phthalo blue.  It made it easier for paint mixing and pouring.  I welcome any feedback you may have and here they are...

"Breaking Dawn"; Poured Watercolor on 9" x 12" Cold Press Paper.

"In Bloom"; Poured Watercolor on 9" x 12" Cold Press Paper.

"Garden Wall"; Poured Watercolor on 9" x 12" Cold Press Paper.

In A Flowering Mood...

I've been in a bit of a flowery mood of late and am wandering into uncharted territory.  As a co-worker stated recently," I never imagined you as the flowery type."  I will admit that I usually am not, being more of the tom-boy type.  But it's kind of been nice trying my hand at something new.  Here's a couple of recent watercolors, I've done in the wet to dry method...

"Poppies A Blooming"; Watercolor on 9" x 12" Paper.

"Crab Apple Blossoms"; Watercolor on 10" x 13"

I'll probably start back in with the 100 Salt Lake City Porches Project this weekend and I'm hoping to be able to scout out some new porch possibilities on my bike too.